Mortgage applications see their own Black Friday bump

Home shoppers locked in the lowest mortgage rates in a month last week. 

Applications increased slightly for the fourth consecutive stretch for the week ending Nov. 29, as effective rates for all products tracked by the Mortgage Bankers Association fell, the trade group said. Its Weekly Applications Survey monitor rose 2.8% from the week prior, including an adjustment for the Thanksgiving holiday. 

"The purchase index increased for the fourth straight week to its highest level since January 2024," said Joel Kan, vice president and deputy chief economist at the MBA. 

Consumers last week applied for purchase loans on average at $431,900. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index was up 6% from the prior week, rising while refinances dipped 1% compared to the prior seven days. 

Not adjusting for the holiday weekend, the MBA's application statistics declined markedly, with the top-line Market Composite Index down 30% weekly. 

Kan cited stronger purchase activity on rising inventory levels and rates that are trending back toward the mid-6% range. The average contract interest rate for conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgages was 6.69%, down from 6.86% in the prior week.

Last year, that rate was 7.37% heading into the winter. Across the board, interest rates for mortgage products tracked by the MBA were down between 34 basis points and 68 basis points.

Rates for 15-year FRM dropped the most on a weekly basis, dropping 17 basis points to 6.12%.

Jumbo loan rates moved to 6.85% from 6.97%, while points declined from 0.63 from 0.39. Rates for 5/1 adjustable rate mortgages fell 10 basis points last week to 6.24%, as those loans made up just 6% of total application activity. 

Bucking the larger refinance slide, interest in refis with the Federal Housing Administration and Department of Veterans Affairs rose. Those indexes climbed 3.9% and 11.1%, respectively, as tracked rates for FHA 30-year mortgages dipped 12 basis points to 6.49%.